Like a toddler with a water hose, the monsoon brings the rain in bursts, unevenly spraying but never quite quenching Arizona’s dry earth.

Often, the season’s thunderstorms unleash an apocalyptic scene — a wall of dust, with its tinge of yellow and red against the setting sun, rushing to swallow the Valley whole and enveloping its homes with its unwelcome sandy mist. Free from crippling polar vortexes or earthquakes, the sandstorms are nature’s reminder to Arizona of its sweeping powers.